WOOOHOO! I just got off the phone with blockC, and I can post something very, very rare to this thread: ACTUAL NUMBERS!
I made sure they were OK with me sharing this information, so put your lawsuits/pitchforks away.
Unit Cost:For a group buy of moderate size they can do $1350/unit, raspberry pis included. We may get a
small additional discount if we get a buttload of them (50+).
Shipping Cost:If we get less than 50 units it will cost $50/unit (via UPS, ew),
If we get over 50 units they can ship via air freight. That's ~$20 a unit, and can get lower if we buy more. If we got 100 units (I know, it's a big ask), I've been told it goes down to $10 per unit.
This beats the S7 price per TH, arrives earlier, and has practically the same efficiency (0.28J/GH for the S7, 0.29J/GH for the Avalon6). I've been told you can get the Avalon6 down to 0.28 if you use very efficient PSUs, which we are planning on getting with them.
Timeframe:These are batch 2 avalon6 miners. They are scheduled to arrive at BlockC November 20th, and should arrive at GND/CryptoBoreas about a week after that. If we don't raise funds in time, no big deal. There will be a batch 3, 4, etc. Of course, I'd prefer sooner rather than later.
Undervolting:The Avalon6 has a string design, so it will be hard to undervolt. Much like the S5/S7, you'll need to actually adjust the input voltage into the miner. It's not very practical, although blockC is planning on making a DC/DC converter in the future that will do the trick.
Note that the S7 does not have a 0.25J/GH efficiency as many people believe. If you look at the specs page for batch 6, it says
0.25J/GH + 10%.